**Summary:**
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is actively working to combat fake calls and SMS scams, recognizing that while cybercrime falls under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects, DoT is responsible for preventing misuse of telecom resources. The MHA has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) (https://cybercrime.gov.in) to address cybercrimes, with 1.918 million complaints and reported losses of ₹22,811.95 crore in 2024 via the NCRP.
DoT and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have implemented a system to identify and block international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers. To counter SIM acquisition using fake documents, DoT has created the AI-driven ASTR tool to identify multiple SIMs registered under different names by the same individual.
DoT is actively engaging with citizens to raise awareness through state-specific briefings, content in local languages, social media campaigns, press releases, SMS campaigns, and collaboration with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), banks, and TSPs. The Sanchar Saathi App/portal encourages citizens to report suspected fraud. The Sanchar Mitra volunteer program utilizes student volunteers to educate citizens about digital safety, fraud prevention, and the Sanchar Saathi app.
Key initiatives by DoT include:
1. The Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), a secure online platform for information sharing among stakeholders (including central security agencies, State/UT Police, I4C, Goods Service Tax Network (GSTN), banks, and TSPs – approximately 620 organizations are onboarded) to prevent cybercrime and financial fraud.
2. The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), a risk-based metric classifying mobile numbers based on their association with financial fraud risk (Medium, High, or Very High), enabling stakeholders like banks, NBFCs, and UPI service providers to prioritize enforcement and customer protection measures.
This information was provided by the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar.
Key Entities Referenced
Digital Intelligence Platform DIP: An online secure platform developed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for sharing information among stakeholders for prevention of cyber crime and financial frauds.
Ministry of Home Affairs MHA: The Indian governmental ministry responsible for matters relating to Cyber Crime and internal security.
Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre I4C: An office established by the MHA to provide a framework and ecosystem for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with cybercrimes.
National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal NCRP: A portal launched by the MHA to enable the public to report all types of cybercrimes, accessible at https://cybercrime.gov.in.
Telecom Service Providers TSPs: Entities that provide telecom services and work with the DoT to block international spoofed calls.
Artificial Intelligence AI and Big data Analytic tool ASTR: An indigenous tool created by DoT to identify SIMs taken by the same person under different names, countering the use of fake documents.
Sanchar Saathi Appportal: A citizen-centric initiative of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for reporting suspected fraud communications.
Financial Fraud Risk Indicator FRI: A risk-based metric developed by DoT that classifies a mobile number based on the risk of financial fraud associated with it, empowering stakeholders like banks and UPI providers.
Ministry of Communications
Fake calls and SMS scams
DoT has developed an online secure Digital
Intelligence Platform (DIP) for sharing of information
among the stakeholders for prevention of cyber-
crime and financial frauds
Posted On: 24 JUL 2025 4:26PM by PIB Delhi
Matters relating to Cyber Crime are under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as per allocation of the
business rules. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) undertakes efforts to prevent misuse of telecom
resources for cyber frauds. Further, 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule
of the Constitution of India. MHA has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) as an
attached office to provide a framework and eco-system for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to deal with
cyber-crimes. MHA has also launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal- NCRP
(https://cybercrime.gov.in) to enable public to report all type of cybercrimes. As per I4C, total number of
complaints on NCRP and amount lost were 19.18 lakh and 22811.95 crore respectively in 2024. Further, DoT
and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block incoming international
spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers. These calls appear to be originating within India but were
being made by the cyber-criminals from abroad by spoofing the Calling Line Identity (CLI). Further, for
countering uptake of SIMs using fake documents, DoT has created an indigenous Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and Big data Analytic tool ASTR to identify SIMs taken by same person in different names.
DoT actively engages with citizens to raise awareness about telecom-related frauds and for staying updated on
the latest telecom safety measures. Efforts have also been made to encourage the use of the Sanchar Saathi
App/portal, a citizen centric initiative of DoT for reporting suspected fraud communications. Engagement
with citizens and awareness efforts have also been made through state-specific briefings & dissemination of
content in local languages, social media campaigns, regular press releases, SMS campaigns and collaboration
with multiple stakeholders like Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs)/Banks/ Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)
etc. Further, Through the Sanchar Mitra volunteer program of DoT, student volunteers from various
universities are actively engaging with citizens to educate them about digital safety, fraud prevention, and
Sanchar Saathi. They are conducting awareness drives, workshops, and on-ground interactions with public
regarding securing their mobile connections and for reporting frauds.
Further, steps taken by DoT, inter-alia, includes the following:
i. DoT has developed an online secure Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for sharing of information
related to misuse of telecom resources among the stakeholders for prevention of cyber-crime and
financial frauds. About 620 organizations have been onboarded on DIP including central security
agencies, State/UT Police, I4C, Goods & Service Tax Network (GSTN), Banks, TSPs etc.
ii. DoT has developed Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) which is a risk-based metric that classifies a
mobile number to have been associated with Medium, High, or Very High risk of financial fraud. FRI
empowers stakeholders-especially banks, NBFCs, and UPI service providers to prioritize enforcement
and take additional customer protection measures in case a mobile number has high risk.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr.Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
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Samrat/ Allen
(Release ID: 2147769)